In areas relating to user input and output, personal computer hardware has become very standardized. As an example, most personal computers utilize keyboards having identical sets of keys that generate identical electrical signals. Computer mice are another example of this trend. Even where hardware is slightly different, as with video display monitors, most differences are handled transparently by driver software. As a result, developers of application programs can focus their efforts on higher levels of functionality rather than having to deal with the details of hardware interaction.
With the widespread use of graphical user interfaces such as the Windows is family of operating systems (sold by Microsoft Corporation), the details of user interaction have also become somewhat standardized. The Windows operating system allows developers to utilize pre-written software components to implement user controls and makes possible a unified "look and feel" across a wide range of applications.
These degrees of standardization have not yet been attained in other technological products that require complex user interaction, such as interactive television products and products that attempt to combine Internet Web browsing with traditional and enhanced television services. In these products, different manufacturers implement different types of input hardware (keyboards, mice, etc.) and wish to design and experiment with different methods of user interaction. Indeed, there is often an attempt by each manufacturer to implement a unique "look and feel," to differentiate a product from competing products.
This presents a problem for a company such as Microsoft Corporation that wants to design and sell a single software product such as an operating system and Web browser for use with products manufactured by different companies. The software product must adapt to different hardware for each manufacturer's product, and must also be customizable to implement each manufacturer's unique graphical user interface.
Normally, customizing a software product for each manufacturer is extremely inefficient from both production and maintenance standpoints. Although the manufacturers could conceivably be allowed to modify a software product's source code to implement a desired interface, this too involves maintenance problems. Furthermore, many such manufacturers are not equipped to perform computer programming at this level.